Cat Shelter
by MizzyPlatinum
Summary: AU. Gajeel wants to buy a cat so Gray suggests they all go to the cat shelter Juvia happens to work at. Fluffy. OneShot. Gruvia. NaLu.


**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 **I wrote this fic in honor of my friend's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDAKO7!**

 **Thank you for being an amazing waifu! ;w;**

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 **XOXOX**

"How did I have to get dragged along to this?" Lucy murmured as she entered the tiny shop.

"Because I got dragged along," Levy said with a teasing grin as she followed her friend inside. "Plus Natsu's here and you two are pretty inseparable."

"Hey!"

"I get why you two got dragged along," Gray muttered, "but how the hell did I end up getting dragged along?"

"Asked by the boy who practically begged us to go to _this_ cat shelter," Lucy smirked and then rubbed in her chin in fake thought, "Hmmm I wonder why…"

"Couldn't possibly have something to do with Juvia working here," Levy giggled, joining in on Lucy's teasing.

"Tch," Gray scoffed, looking away to hide his ever-reddening cheeks. Why are girls so annoying?

"Oi, Shrimp!" Gajeel called out excitedly, "lookie at this cat!"

With a halfhearted sigh, Levy made her way over to the excited Gajeel.

Meanwhile Natsu doubled over. "Wahaha!" Clutching his stomach with water beading out of the corners of his eyes, he said, "Oi, guys, come check out this fat cat!"

"Huh?" Lucy and Gray shared a reluctant look before waltzing on over. Gazing at the cage, Gray took note of the indeed fat cat; orange and plump, lazily lying there in the small cage on its back. Gray couldn't help but snicker at the ridiculous creature, "Damn it is fat."

"Whoa," Lucy awed, with very round eyes.

Natsu gave Lucy a quick sideways glance, watching the way she cutely observed the obtuse cat with her hands tied neatly behind her back. He bit back a devilish smirk as he casually mentioned, "It looks like Lucy and Loke's love child."

A series of sputtering noises fired out of her mouth as she turned sharply to glare at him with a blazing red face and flailed her arms around like a floundering fish, "HOW?!"

"Well…" Natsu cheekily smirked, his slanted eyes darting between Lucy and the cat, who was just idling around, "it's orange like Loke and fat like you."

Lucy's left eye twitched.

Gray took a giant step back, not wanting to get stuck in the crossfire and smirked at the laughing Natsu, "She's gonna kill you."

" _Natsu!_ " Lucy seethed.

"Oi, don't get angry at me," he shrugged nonchalantly, resting his hands on the back of his head. "Take this as a sign that you and Loke should never reproduce."

Before Lucy could even snap a fiery retort, Gray quickly cut in, sniggering to Lucy, "Or maybe you should take this as a sign that Natsu likes you."

"Pshh no way!" Natsu huffed, no longer laughing. Instead, his dark eyes were blazing, "I would never—"

"Ahh! You guys are all here to visit me at work!?" Juvia came running over, interrupting Natsu disgruntled words. "Juvia is so happy!" Gray felt his pulse quicken at the sound of her approaching footsteps. He turned to look at her and immediately found himself encaptivated by the abyss of her blue eyes. How did she manage to always have this effect on him? "Ooh! That's Neko! She's—"

"Yeah," Gray grunted, effectively cutting her off, "we know it's a cat. Don't be such a weeb."

Juvia's face slightly fell, "No, no you misunderstood Juvia, Gray-sama! Neko—"

"Oi, quit sayin' that!"

"Neko—"

"Juvia!"

"Why are those two flirting over the fat cat?" Gajeel's raspy voice filtered in, directing his voice over to Levy, Natsu, and Lucy

"Like hell that's what we're doing!" Gray exclaimed, his normally-droopy eyes were now bugging all out while Juvia swooned at the accusation.

"Maybe the cat's really _their love child_?" Natsu murmured to Lucy, Levy, and Gajeel, looking oddly serious with the way his lips were pursed.

The four of them shared a look.

"Makes sense."

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Gray cried out, tugging at his long, black locks while Juvia stuttered to herself with her face brimming red, "J-Juvia and-and Gr-Gray-sama's l-love child?"

"How much for the fat cat?" Gajeel inquired, tapping a finger in the cage in a failing attempt to capture the cat's attention. "It looks kinda cuddly."

Juvia, however, didn't hear him. She was too busy furiously blushing with her blue eyes glossed over at the thought of her and Gray-sama having a love child together.

"Oi, Juvia!" Gajeel snapped his fingers in front of her dazing face. "How much is the damn cat?!"

"Heh?" She jolted back to reality and looked up to meet Gajeel's red eyes. She shifted her gaze back over to the cat, "Oh! Neko is $200!"

"I told you to stop saying _neko,_ " Gray muttered, rubbing his tired eyes.

Gajeel's jaw smacked the floor, "WHAT THE?! BUT THAT SHITTY CAT NAMED _TABLE_ OVER THERE IS ONLY WORTH $40!"

"Cat named _Table_?" Juvia's right eye twitched in confession. There was no cat by that name.

"Wait a second," Lucy said, squinting her eyes at the name plate over the tabby cat's cage, " _Neko_?"

"Ugh, not you too," Gray shook his head in disdain.

"Well what do you expect?" Natsu loudly whispered to Gray with a hand cupping his mouth, "Lucy is a weirdo."

"True," he agreed.

With gritted teeth Lucy seethed, "I can hear you guys!"

Natsu threw a lazy arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him, so sudden that she let out a tiny squeak. "And we can hear you too!"

Her face immediately heated up as she tried to ignore her change in pulse and his warm scent, "I wasn't being a weeb!" she tried to argue. "The cat's name is _Neko_!"

"OOHHH," everyone besides Juvia and Lucy awed at the sudden enlightenment.

Then Gray's head snapped right in Juvia's direction, "Oi, Juvia."

Juvia's heart fluttered like crazy at the sound of her name coming off of his lips. With her hopeful, oceanic eyes, she met his piercing stare head on, "Yes?"

"Why didn't you say the cat's name was _Neko_ earlier?" His voice was brisk.

Juvia let out a weeping cry at the shattering disappointment that filled her heart, "Juvia tried!"

"So wait," Levy said, with her blue brows furrowing inwards, "someone named their cat, _Neko_?"

"A cat named cat…"

A moment of silence overcame them as they slowly processed this newfound information.

Natsu let out a loud sigh, "Definitely Lucy and Loke's love child."

"HEY!"

"So a cat named cat and a cat named Table," Gajeel grumbled, rubbing his nose piercing. "What kinda trashy people were these previous cat owners?"

"Lucy trash," Natsu simply answered.

A vein throbbed on Lucy's forehead as she jerked out of Natsu's hold on her and crossed her arms over her chest, "Says the boy who named his cat _Happy_."

"What's wrong with the name _Happy_?" he glowered at her.

" _Everything_."

"Oi, it's a better name than _Neko_ or _Table_ so hah!"

"YOU'RE ACTING LIKE I ACTUALLY NAMED THEM THAT!"

"You didn't?" he blinked, looking completely thrown off by the sudden information.

"YOU REALLY THOUGHT I DID?!"

"Those two are hopeless," Gray breathed out in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"But Juvia is confused," Juvia said in distress, anxiously twirling her smooth, blue hair around her delicate index finger. "She doesn't recall a cat named Table."

"Right over there," Gajeel said, pointing to a cat that was in a cage right across from Neko. "See? _Table_."

Gray slowly walked over to it, peering at the messy scrawl on the name plate, but just as Gajeel said, it read Table. "He's right."

"What?" Juvia frantically rushed over, shoving Natsu to the side in the process, who wobbled—with a loud bang—into one of the cat cages and got a nice chorus of hisses thrown at him.

Lucy snickered as the boy jolted away from the cages out of fear, earning a nice scowl from him.

" _Sable!"_ Juvia cried out. "It says _Sable!_ "

"How?" Gray asked, narrowing his eyes as he securitized the name plate. "That is clearly a _T_."

"Yeah," Gajeel agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

"I see a _T_ also," Levy added in with her lips puckered.

"It's an _S_!" Juvia tried to argue, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. How could they mistake two letters that look nothing alike?

"Well whoever wrote this," Gray said, shoving his hands into his jean pockets, "has awful handwriting."

"Ahaha Juvia agrees with Gray-sama!" Juvia laughed nervously as she profusely rubbed the back of her head and sobbed internally, _Juvia's heart is breaking_. _Gray-sama thinks Juvia has terrible handwriting._

"Tch," Gajeel scoffed with his buff arms crossed. "All the cats here are lame. Why did we choose this shelter out of all shelters again?"

"Because Gray was so insistent," Levy said, biting back a smirk.

"Oh right," Gajeel gleamed. "Ghihihi."

"Ehh?" Juvia's head titled slightly. Gray-sama was the one who wanted to come here? Why would he—

"Was not," the boy in question grumbled, combing a hand through his hair.

"Anyway," Levy said, lightly grasping Gajeel's thick wrist, "I'm sure we can find a cat for you here! You're just not giving it a chance!"

"Am too!" the metal boy protested.

"Yeah, yeah," Levy brushed him off. "C'mon. Let's go search again."

"Fine…"

Gray watched as the orange cat rolled onto its stomach, tilting its head to the side as it stared at him with piercing green eyes. Gray awkwardly rubbed his bare arms, "Can we just go now? I'm starving. Natsu? Lucy?" No answer. He looked over his shoulder only to see Juvia. His forehead creased. "Where the hell did they go?"

"Wahhh," Juvia gently cradled her face between her small palms, "Juvia is finally alone with Gray-sama!"

"Oi, oi…" Gray held his hands up in defense with sweat beading his forehead as he watched the strange girl with hearts for eyes gush over him. And suddenly, the word _cute_ came to mind, but before he could delve on it, something in the distance interrupted him; Lucy bellowing Assflame's name. "NATSUUU!"

"LET GO OF ME! I JUST WANT TO PET IT!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET US IN TROUBLE!"

"OWWW! IT SCRATCHED ME!"

"GOOD! SERVES YOU RIGHT!"

"Idiots," he grumbled. What a weird day…Gajeel suddenly wanting a cat, Lucy and Natsu making a ruckuses, Juvia gazing at him with hearts in her eyes—he looked away. All he wanted was to get lunch…But then again, it was he who was the one who suggested they go and visit Juvia since she works at a cat shelter and Gajeel was in dire need of one. "I'm out," he exasperatedly sighed, heading over to the door.

Juvia's face fell considerably as she watched the icy boy head towards the exit, ignoring the meowing of cats that followed his wake without even a second glance—he froze in place.

He turned his head to the left, unconsciously tugging off his shirt.

"Heh?" Juvia's forehead creased in confusion then she jolted up straight with an "EEP!" Her face turned scarlet as she stared wide-eye at Gray's toned, bare back. She clutched a hand over her pulsing heart, "S-So daring!"

"This cat…" he moved towards the cage slowly, his index pointing to where his gaze was focused. "Why is it wearing a _frog suit_?"

Juvia stared at the boy for a minute, "…A cat wearing a frog suit…" Her head fell forwards and she quickly cupped her hand over her mouth and burst into a giggling fit. "Gr-Gray-sa-sama is so funny!"

"Huh?" Gray's face scrunched up in bemusement. How was he funny? It's not like he was the one who dressed up the strange green cat in a pink-spotted frog costume. He frowned slightly, taking in the way Juvia's blue hair fell in waves like a cascading waterfall, perfectly framing her petite face.

And her laughs…His heart started to race.

He forced himself to cough, hastily wiping at his nose, "It's true! Come look at this cat!"

That seemed to sober Juvia up. Gray-sama wanted her to come over to him? Her blood hummed with searing joy as she hurried over to the shirtless boy, but kept a shy gap between them.

"Why are you so far?" Gray mused, before grasping Juvia's tiny wrist to tug her closer. His hands were cool against her heated skin, sending an icy shock up her arm that headed straight to her heart. She mindless gave in to his pull, standing so close, she could smell his frosty-mint scent.

Her brain was no longer functioning, as if it were turned into a block of ice. Forced to feel the sparks that continued to come from Gray's hand. "See?" he asked, giving her a sideways glance.

"See?" she echoed numbly.

"The cat? Wearing a frog suit?" He lifted her arm up that he was holding, to point her in the direction of the strange creature.

"Huh?" That seemed to smack her back into reality. She looked straight ahead and sure enough, there was a green cat wearing a pink frog suit, sitting tall as it gazed blankly at Juvia. "Wh-What? Juvia has never seen this cat before! It must be new!"

"Well his name _Frosch_ according to the name plate," Gray said, scratching his chin with his free hand. The cat, Frosch, scratched at its face before giving his paw a nice lick. "It looks…kind of… _cute_."

"Ehh?" Juvia's head snapped over to see Gray giving the cat the most adoring look Juvia had ever seen him make. It made her heart melt. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Yes!—I mean," he quickly rubbed the bottom of his nose with the back of his hand and coolly shrugged, "tch why not?"

Juvia giggled quietly as Gray's _indifferent_ attitude. "Okay!" She pulled up a key from her work necklace and quickly undid the lock.

The door sprung open and the peculiar green just lolled there as Juvia stuck her hand into the cage to gently carry the cat out.

The strange costume was so soft and the cat was so calm, Juvia cuddled it to her chest and snuggled the kitty to her face.

Gray felt his heart swell at the sight. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he couldn't help but find Juvia to be adorable. The smile she wore as she cuddled with the cat…the only word Gray could use to describe her was _beautiful—_ Juvia was beautiful.

She timidly held the cat at arm's length, "Does Gray-sama want to hold him?"

"Sure," he grunted, gently taking hold of the cat. He held it up, staring at its adorable green face with its long whiskers before going gaga over it with googly eyes as he nuzzled the cat against his cheek.

And in that moment, Juvia didn't think it was possible for her to fall anymore in love than she already was with the boy.

A boy who treats animals kindly…Gray was too perfect, it made her stomach flutter.

"This might sound crazy," Gray spoke with a look of excitement dancing on his face, "but I think I want to adopt him! What do you think?"

"Ahh!" Juvia squealed, clapping her hands out of pure joy. Gray owning a cat? Juvia fell in love with the idea just picturing Gray and his cat snuggled up on the couch watching TV. "Juvia thinks you should!"

"Alright," he grinned at her, causing her to feel a bit lightheaded, "it's settled then!"

"Yay!" Juvia grinned back. "You'll just need to fill out some paper work! Follow me!"

And Gray happily followed, clutching his soon-to-be cat, tightly to his chest.

Meanwhile, a distressed Levy was screeching on the top of her lungs, "GAJEEL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU CAN'T JUST EAT THE METAL BARS OF THE CAGE!"

"BUT I WANT THAT CAT!"

"O-OKAY, BUT I'M SURE JUVIA CAN OPEN IT FOR YOU! NO NEED TO TRY AND BIT IT OPEN!"

 **XOXOX**

"Owwww," Natsu rubbed soothing circles around his clawed cheek as he and Lucy searched around for the others.

Lucy raised a sharp brow at the pathetic boy, "Well what did you expect? You pulled at its whiskers!"

"It was an accident!" he insisted with his arms raised up like that would make his lie more believable.

"Sure, sure," she winked. "Why did you even do that? You have your own cat."

"Tch," he scoffed instead of giving a real answer, shoving his hands into his pants pockets in a hostile manner.

"Hope you learned your lesson then," Lucy continued to chastise, fluffing her blonde ponytail that seemed to give off a snobbish vibe.

And that irked Natsu just like all the cats annoyingly hissing and pur—With a sly smirk, he eyed her from his peripheral, tying his arms behind the back of his head, and said, "Oi, Lucy, do you want me to make you purr now?"

Lucy choked on her spit, falling into an awkward coughing fit as she tried to say, "Excuse me?"

"Well," his smirk widened, loving the way her cheeks flushed up. She was way too easy to fluster up sometimes. "I guess you could make me purr if you really want to since you love it when I purr."

"EXCUSE ME?" she gawked at him with bugged-out eyes. What was he talking about? When has she ever made him purr? What the hell did that even mean?

"Those two times you got drunk," he said. "The first time you wanted me to make you purr, the second time you made me purr."

Lucy was sure all the blood in her body was draining out of her. She could remember all the girls teasing her about how she was all over Natsu, but she had thought they were only kidding…

A brief image—no a _memory_ filtered into her dazed mind. A memory of her lying on Natsu's chest, stroking him under his chin…

Natsu cocked his to the side, observing the way Lucy's face had first paled and now turned a nice boiling shade of red, looking as though she were about to explode.

His stomach clenched.

Maybe the teasing was a bad idea…

But the explosion never occurred, instead, Natsu watched as Lucy's eyes began to glisten. His heart felt heavy as if that fat, orange cat had sat on it. Swallowing tightly, he stuck his hand out and said, "H-Hey, d-don't cry! It's no big deal! Lucy isn't Lucy when she's drunk!"

His words seemed to only make things worse as he watched Lucy's bottom lip start to quiver.

"ARGGG!" he tugged frantically at his pink locks. _Think fast!_ "I-I actually like it when you make me purr! It's weird just like you!"

She sniffled out, "I thought you said I wasn't me when I'm drunk…"

"I did but—"

"So that means you like me better drunk?"

"WHAT THE? WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT FROM?! THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!"

"But you like it when I make you purr…? I don't make you purr when I'm sober."

His eye began to twitch at the cutesy girl in front of him. Why did she have to look at him with those big, brown eyes? He could feel his resolve cracking into smithereens. "I like you whether you make me purr or not!"

"So can I make you purr now?"

"NO WAY!"

Her mouth did that quivering thing again and Natsu felt his heart quiver along with it as he growled out with hands clenched, knowing very well he was going to regret this. "F-Fine. I'll let you make me purr!"

"Really?!" Her quivering lip turned into a hopeful smile, making Natsu feel like he was about to combust as he begrudgingly nodded.

Lucy came in close, so close that he could feel her body heat caressing his skin. He kept his eyes peeled as she leaned in. Was he really going to let Lucy pet him?

He could feel his pulse spike like a heated thermometer the second Lucy lifted up her hand. He gulped loudly, this seemed like a really bad idea… _Or a really good one…_

With a loud smack, something struck Natsu right on the cheek. Lucy's hand. "OW! WHAT THE HELL, LUCY?!" he glowered, rubbing the new sore spot. At least she didn't hit him where he had been clawed.

"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PURR!" she fumed with her fists wildly waving all around that Natsu was scared she was going to hit him again. "Idiot!"

With that said, Lucy stormed away, making sure her heeled boots boomed against the floor like a vengeful thunderstorm, leaving Natsu confused, annoyed, and unsure if he should be relieved she wasn't petting him or disappointed that she wasn't petting him.

 **XOXOX**

"Okay, Gray-sama," Juvia gleamed, as she filed away the last of Gray's paperwork, "that was all the paper work you needed to fill out. Now all you have to do is pay and then Frosch he is all yours!"

"Alright," he nodded, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. "How much does he cost? And do I get to keep the frog costume?"

"He is—"

"NOOOOO!" A loud, roaring voice echoed into the shelter. "YOU CAN'T SELL HIM!"

"Ehh?!" Juvia and Gray whirled around to see a boy with black hair and a scar on his nose come running at them.

"Rogue?" Gray blankly blinked.

"THAT'S MY CAT!" the boy yelled.

A vein pinched on Gray's forehead, underneath his raven locks, "No way! The cat's mine! I just filled out all the paper work!"

"No!" Rogue shock his head, his face all red and his hair looked flustered, probably from running all the way here. "You don't understand. _That's my cat!_ "

"What are you—"

" _Frosch!_ " Rogue cried out to the cat resting on the counter. At the sound of his name, the frog-cat jumped up and leapt right into his arms. Then he cuddled the cat against his left cheek. "Don't you ever run off on me again, okay? I checked about five different shelters looking for you!"

"Ultimate betrayal," Gray sighed, watching Frosch purr happily against Rogue's cheek.

"Juvia is confused," Juvia announced with her brows pulled inwards, twirling on a strand of her long, blue hair. "How did your cat end up in our shelter?"

Rogue glanced over at her and said, "Frosch likes to go for walks a lot, but he has a hard time finding his way home. The town must have thought he was a stray and brought him here. Sorry for the trouble, Gray."

"Ah well…" Gray shrugged with a tight smile on his lips. "Just wanted to do a good deed…ya know, giving a homeless cat a home."

"Gray-sama…" Juvia awed at his façade.

"Thanks for not making a big deal about this. By the way, why are you shirtless?"

"Wha—Damn it!" Gray groaned, gazing down at his pale, bare chest. Not only did he lose his cat, he had lost his shirt as well. Great, just great.

But Gray couldn't be too upset the second he saw a warm smile touch Rogue's cheeks, "C'mon on, Frosch, let's head home!"

The cat purred in response and then Rogue spun on his heel and left, leaving Gray and Juvia alone yet again.

A warm hand gently touched his back, rubbing soothing circles. "Sorry about the cat," Juvia said softly.

"It's fine," he said, sagging into Juvia's warm touch.

"But Gray-sama looked so happy with the cat!" she cried. "Juvia feels bad!"

"Don't," Gray said with a warm smile at the flustered girl. "I think I only wanted the cat for its frog costume anyway."

Juvia let out a small laugh and Gray found himself chuckling as well. How ridiculous…a cat wearing a frog suit? "Well I am really hungry," Gray commented. "I should probably go—"

"Oh," Juvia frowned, not wanting their moment to end just yet. But alas, it had to.

"—and pick us up some lunch."

"Huh?!" Juvia's eye popped open. Did he just—

Gray grinned at her and shrugged, "I kinda like it here."

"Because of the cats?" Juvia asked, tilting her head to the side, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Nope," he said and without elaborating any further, he left. Leaving behind a stunned Juvia who looked about ready to faint.

Gray-sama was buying her lunch.

What is life?

Meanwhile, in the background, the cries of Lucy and Levy crying over Natsu and Gajeel fighting was nothing more than just white noise that went unnoticed by Juvia's elated mind.

 **The End.**

 **XOXOX**

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 **Hehe thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't confusing or anything because it has inside jokes in it :0**

 **Hope you all enjoyed it!**


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